HARRISONBURG — Next month, a former longtime Harrisonburg resident will leave on a 100-day cross-country journey from Savannah, Ga., to San Francisco — on a tricycle.

The rider, Bob Carter, formally of Ohio Street, is a 46-year-old, 280-pound Santa Claus-looking Christian who calls himself "Phatboy."

Carter says he hopes to go from "Fatboy" to "Phatboy" by losing 100 pounds during his 3,500-mile trip across the United States.

He plans to stop at elementary schools, fundraising concerts and big-name talk shows in Los Angeles (like Jay Leno and Dr. Phil) to raise $250,000 for musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

The journey, he says, will "reconnect with his Creator."

"I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people who are wondering if I even make it out of the state of Georgia," Carter said, "but I’m gonna try."

Phatboy’s tale begins with a failed mission trip and a "loving" mold-sniffing chocolate Labrador retriever.

In 1996, after living in Harrisonburg for 15 years, Carter graduated from James Madison University and left the Friendly City.

At the time, he and some church friends were planning to leave on a cycling mission trip in China. But, as things turned out, the trip was canceled for "logistical reasons."

Ten years passed and the mission trip was largely forgotten.

Then Carter moved to a suburb of Atlanta and, in 2003, he adopted a Lab named Brandy from a pet rescue shelter.

In time, the two pals went into business. Brandy became the 10th "mold-detecting" dog in the United States and Carter employed his skills to find hidden mold for his business, Elite Detection Dawgs.

Soon, however, their relationship became more than a business partnership. Carter began taking Brandy with him wherever he went and the two chums rarely left each other’s sides.

"I love this dog," Carter said. "I don’t want to go anywhere without her."

For years, Carter says, the two friends lived peacefully and virtually undisturbed. But earlier this year things began to change for the dynamic duo.

One day in April, Carter started feeling an "intense pain" in his upper abdomen. Doctors determined that he was suffering "some sort of blockage," but several later tests concluded otherwise, he said.

Although the doctors eventually give Carter a clean bill of health, the nearly 300-pound man didn’t forget the experience.

"I felt like I had a mandate from God that I needed to do something," Carter said.

So he enrolled in a "spin" (stationary bicycle) class at his local YMCA to lose weight and to get into shape. But it wasn’t enough.

Over the next few months, Carter began to take longer and longer bike rides. Eventually, he biked 40- and even 100-mile trips.

"I needed to do something big," Carter said. "And I needed to do it for reasons bigger than just me and my health."

As someone familiar with the production side of the music industry, Carter knew of several musicians living in Atlanta who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

And the rest, he says, is history.

"Music has been a constant in my life," Carter said. "It was only natural that music would be involved in this cause."

On Nov. 14, his quest to help the New Orleans musicians officially begins.

His trip starts in Savannah, from where he’ll bike south to Florida. Carter will turn west on a route that will take him through the Southwest on his way to San Diego.

Next, Carter says, he’ll turn north, bike up the Pacific coast, pass through L.A., and finish the trip in San Francisco, where his biggest sponsor, High Sierra Foundation, is headquartered.

Carter’s trike trip, however, has one last twist.

Phatboy will ride about 50 miles a day on an 81-gear Greenspeed "GTO" recumbent trike, known as a "tadpole."

The tadpole is equipped with saddlebags, which will hold his tent, food, water and other supplies; and a two-wheeled trailer to tug his furry friend.

The high-tech contraption also sports a solar-powered battery charger for his cell phone, iPod and digital video camera. A bright blue neon light is mounted below the seat making the whole outfit resemble a bike-version of a supped-up hot rod.

"It’s a wild contraption," Carter said.

So wild, in fact, that driving it takes some getting used to. On Thursday, Carter came to Harrisonburg so he could visit friends and then practice driving the bike on Skyline Drive.

And so he’ll go.

Through wind, rain and snow Carter will travel through nine states raising awareness for his cause.

"Hopefully," Carter said, "by the time I get to San Fran, ‘fat boy’ will not apply to me anymore."